More than a Dream
by skyway highway
Summary: Tidus is a nobody, the loser student who can't fit in no matter how hard he tries. Then he transfers to a new school where he meets Yuna, and his life as he knows it changes forever. AU High School setting. TxY RxG WxL maybe others
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys, this is my first fanfic after a long time! It's my first story for FFX so I hope you guys like it! Also, Final Fantasy X and characters belong to Square-Enix, not me. 

**More than a Dream**  
Chapter One

The alarm clock went off, the shrill bleating breaking the sudden silence. After a few minutes Tidus groaned, reaching out his hand to shut the offending noise off. Then he buried his head deeper into his pillow, not wanting to get up.

Today would be his first day at a new school. Zanarkand High. The largest public high school in all of A-East. Previously he'd gone to the smaller, more local high school in his area, but after getting beat up several times throughout last school year, his guardian Auron decided it would be a good time for a change.

He didn't want to go. Everyone would hate him. They would tease him, or worse, they'd completely ignore him.

"Tidus? Are you awake?" Auron called through the door, knocking on it lightly.

Tidus sighed. "I'm awake," he called back.

"Get up. You'll be late for school."

"Alright, alright, I'm getting up..."

x x x

Tidus managed to make it to school on time, Auron giving him a ride in because it was his first day. He was dropped off in the parking lot, where Auron would also meet him after school to take him home. As if he was some stupid little freshman instead of a seventeen year old in his last year of high school.

He followed the path towards the front entrance of the school, keeping his head down and hoping nobody noticed him. Unfortunately, he had no such luck. Just as he neared the front, he bumped into a group of guys standing around like they were guarding the pathway.

The guy he'd bumped into turned around and stared at him for a moment before shouting, "NEW GUY!"

Tidus' eyes widened, and he looked around for a means of escape. The group of guys circled around him menacingly, blocking him in.

"Uh, guys, I didn't mean it..." he started to say. "Look, I'm sorry..."

The first blow landed, hard and fast in his stomach. Tidus gasped and fell to his knees, the breath knocked out of him. Somebody else kicked his shin, and he cried out. He wished he knew what it was that made people always want to hurt him. He didn't do anything to them! Why did they all hate him so much?

After what seemed like forever the guys finally stopped and left him alone, presumably to wonder off and go bother some other poor soul. Tidus didn't bother getting up, just lay there on the ground trying to get his breath back. He heard the first bell for homeroom ring, which meant that he had ten minutes to get up and try to go find his classroom.

A face popped into view above his. Tidus blinked, staring up into swirly green eyes.

"Are you okay?" the face said. "You don't look so good."

Tidus blinked again, and wondered if he was hallucinating. No one ever bothered to talk to him. "Uh..." he said, having momentarily forgotten what he was doing. "I'm fine..." Then he remembered that he was lying on the ground all beat up. "I tripped."

A hand came into view along with the face, and after a hesitant moment Tidus took it and allowed himself to be pulled up. The face and hand turned out to belong to a short blonde-haired girl of about fifteen or sixteen.

"I'm Rikku!" the girl said, smiling brightly.

"Tidus," Tidus offered, still unsure why this girl was talking to him. "I'm new here."

"So you tripped right into Seymour's gang, huh?"

"Uh..." Tidus rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. "Yeah, I guess," he said, though he didn't know who Seymour was.

Rikku laughed. "Don't worry about it! Seymour's a jerk, he does that to all the new guys here. He'll leave you alone from now on, as long as you stay out of his way."

"Right," Tidus said. He glanced down at his watch and then swore. 8:27. "Oh no!"

"What is it?" Rikku asked curiously.

"It's only three minutes til homeroom and I don't know where mine is! I'm gonna be late!" Tidus wailed.

Rikku grinned. "Just say you got lost. The teacher will forgive you, no problem!"

"It's not the teacher I'm worried about," Tidus mumbled, not loud enough for Rikku to understand him.

"Here, look, what's your room number? I'll show you where it is!"

"Um." Tidus looked down at his hands, only just then realizing he'd dropped it when that guy had hit him. He looked around at the ground, spotting a tattered and dirty piece of paper a few feet away. He walked over to it and picked it up, sighing. It was ripped in half, and the part that held the room numbers and teachers names wasn't there.

"I need a new schedule," he said. He groaned, knowing that if he managed to make it to homeroom today, he'd be very, very late.

end chapter one

Sorry, I know it's pretty short. I guess I need to get back into the hang of writing :) I promise the next chapter will be longer, and hopefully it will be up soon. There will be plenty more in store for Tidus, and Yuna too! Consider leaving a review if you enjoyed, thanks!

-asch


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys, here's chapter two! Also, just a reminder, this story is AU, so some of the canon events have been changed some. Namely, Jecht's death. Don't worry, all will be revealed eventually :) 

And thank you guys for the reviews! I'm glad you're all enjoying the story!

**More than a Dream**  
Chapter Two

Tidus squirmed. The woman in the office was glaring at him.

"You've lost your schedule already?" she asked disapprovingly.

"Yes mam," he said, trying to look as sorry as possibly. "I tripped and dropped it, and then someone stepped on it, and..."

She shook her head. "Don't bother with excuses. Just sit right over there, and someone will print you a new one as soon as they can. If you're lucky, you'll still have homeroom."

Tidus nodded and headed towards the seats she'd indicated. They were hard plastic, and very uncomfortable to sit in. What he really wanted was to go find a bathroom somewhere and clean up a bit, but he knew it'd take even longer to get a schedule if he did that.

He thought about Rikku, the girl he'd met outside, and wondered who she was. She'd seemed nice enough, and definitely friendly if she had actually talked to _him_. Of course, that also meant she probably had lots of friends, and once she realized how pathetic he was she'd deny ever talking to him. It wasn't as if he'd ever make a _real_ friend at this school.

He wished Auron hadn't made him change schools. So he got beat up a lot at his old one. Big deal. At least he knew everybody there, and everybody knew him, and they all knew what to expect from each other. They'd only hated him now anyway because his dad had been Jecht. Six years his old man had been dead, and he still had to carry around the stigma. Auron just didn't understand that.

He shifted around in his seat, trying to get uncomfortable. He wondered how much longer he would have to wait. Homeroom would be over in five minutes. He wasn't going to make it today. He'd have to walk in tomorrow, and explain why he'd missed it with everybody staring at him... He could already feel how awkward it would be.

"Young man," the glaring woman behind the counter said. She sounded impatient.

Tidus started. "Yes?"

"They're ready to print your schedule now," she said, nodding at another office doorway to the left. "Go in there, give them your name and ID number."

"Alright, thanks." Tidus stood and did as instructed, giving his name and citizen ID to a sullen looking man sitting at a computer terminal. The man typed in his information, bringing up a screen which he changed several times before Tidus' schedule was displayed. He gave the computer the command to print, and when it finished he retrieved it from the printer, absently handing it to Tidus. "Here you go."

"Thanks," Tidus said, even though the man wasn't paying attention any more. He looked at his schedule for several minutes, realizing all over again how much bigger Zanarkand High was than his old school. It had four floors! And a floor called B, which he took to be a basement.

His old school had two floors, and no basement. It had taken him the entire freshman year to learn his way around there.

He also noticed that he had two hours of history in a row, Zanarkand history and then Spiran history. And that he'd have to rush from first class in the basement to the second class on the third floor. At least they had ten minutes between classes.

He sighed, and checked to see what class he had first. _Language, room 417... I better get started looking for it now._ Hopefully there was a map somewhere in this place.

He left the office, and then stopped short in his tracks. Rikku was standing right outside the door, grinning at him. "I thought you might still be here!" she said. She yanked his schedule out of his hand. "What classes do you have? Let me see!"

"Hey!" Tidus said. "Give that back!" He made a grab for it, but Rikku merely laughed and moved aside.

"Nope!" she said. She began to look at it, dodging Tidus every now and then. "Hey, we're in the same homeroom!"

Tidus stopped trying to reach for his schedule. "Really? I thought--" he broke off, realizing it might be rude to say he'd thought she was younger, just because she was short.

"I'm fifteen," she said, knowing what he'd been about to say. "I was born late, I started school early, and I skipped a grade. Normally I'd be in tenth grade."

"Ah," Tidus said, blinking. "You must be smart."

Rikku smiled and did a silly little pose, one hand on her hip, the other pointing a finger at Tidus. "You bet!" She giggled. "Anyway, we don't have anything else together except for lunch. You share some classes with my cousin though. Here's your schedule back, I gotta get to second period now! See you later!"

Tidus watched her run down the hallway, feeling a bit confused. She was a strange girl. He rather liked her. Maybe if he got _really_ lucky she actually _would_ be his friend.

_Heh, yeah right_, he scoffed to himself. No one wanted to be his friend. He'd end up just like he always had--alone.

He looked down at his watch. Seven minutes until class. Now he just had to find some stairs.

x x x

"You're late, young man."

Tidus gave a small, nervous smile. "I'm sorry, I got lost, I'm new here..."

The teacher sighed. "Name?"

"Tidus. Tidus Aurion."

She nodded and opened her grade book, making a small notation in it. "Alright. Go find a seat, and don't let it happen again."

Tidus turned towards the class, scanning the room for an empty seat. He tried to ignore how everybody was watching him curiously, sizing him up. He finally spotted an empty seat near the back of the room and started for it.

A boy a few seats down stuck a foot out as Tidus passed. Unfortunately Tidus was so intent on getting to his seat that he didn't notice, and he tripped over it, tumbling to the floor. His notebook went skidding down the aisle, and he heard a 'snap!' as the left strap of his backpack broke.

He slowly climbed to his feet, face red as the rest of the class laughed at him. "Oops," said the boy mockingly, the boy who'd tripped him. "I didn't see you there."

"Mr. Aurion," the teacher said sternly. "There will be no disruptions in my classroom. Cause trouble and win a trip to the principal's office, do I make myself clear?"

Tidus looked back at her, gaping in disbelief. "But--!" He sighed, knowing how pointless it would be to argue with her. "Yes, mam."

"Fine. Now, again, take your seat."

Tidus nodded and started down the aisle again. He reached his notebook and as he bent down to pick it up, he felt the other strap on his backpack break, and the thing tumbled down to the floor with a loud crash. He quickly picked it back up with a hastily muttered, "sorry," while half the class snickered at him. He could kill Auron for telling him he didn't need a new backpack.

"Alright, that's _it_, Mr. Aurion. You can just go stand out in the hall for the rest of the period, and I will be checking on you."

Tidus could already tell, this was going to be a very long day.

x x x

Standing in the hallway was incredibly boring. Not to mention embarrassing. It wasn't a punishment the teachers at his old school had ever used. Tidus was always in the middle of one mishap or another that eventually the teachers just learned to ignore him.

He felt so _lame_, having to stand there by the door with nothing to do, holding his broken bag in his hands because his teacher wouldn't let him put it down. Occasionally another student or teacher would pass by, and they'd give him a strange look, obviously wondering what he was doing. No one talked to him though.

There was a girl who passed by once near the end of the class period that caught Tidus' attention immediately. She gave him a small smile as she passed, and he couldn't help but stare after her. _Man, she's beautiful_, he thought. All that long brown hair that was just begging for him to play with, to run his hands through and feel the silky smoothness of the strands. And her eyes... He'd gotten just a glimpse, but he could have sworn they were two different colours, one blue and the other green.

He wondered who she was, and if he'd see her again. He wanted to see more of her. Hell, he wouldn't mind looking at her all day long, really.

The bell rang just then, signaling the end of the period, but Tidus didn't leave. The teacher had said she wanted to see him after class. The door opened, narrowly missing smacking him in the back. His fellow classmates began streaming out of the room, talking and laughing, most of them hardly giving him second glances. Somehow he didn't think he'd be making friends at this school any more than he had at his old school...

"Mr. Aurion, please come inside," the teacher said.

"Alright," Tidus said, following her into the classroom.

"Now," she said, picking up a small stack of papers resting on top of her desk, "this is a list of the rules I expect you to follow--" handing him one of the sheets "--this is the semester's syllabus--" another sheet "--this is the list of required reading and the materials you will need for this class--" yet two more sheets "--and this is the first homework assignment, due at the end of this week." She handed him a final sheet of paper.

"I expect you to have read and be familiar with all of these by tomorrow, and to have all the required materials by Wednesday. Textbooks will be handed out tomorrow. Please be on time."

Tidus nodded, trying not to look overwhelmed. A homework assignment on the first day of class?! He really hoped the rest of his classes wouldn't end up being the same way.

"Thank you, Mrs... um." He blushed, unable to remember her name.

"Mrs. Faire," she said. "Now, run along to your next class before you're late."

"Right," he said, shifting his bag and papers to one hand so he could dig his schedule out of his pocket. He looked down at it as he left the classroom, mentally groaning when he realized it was the 'B' class. He _really_ hoped that meant the basement. Because if it didn't, he was utterly screwed.

He didn't bother to stop and stuff any of the papers into his bag, knowing time was short and he had to go down many flights of stairs. He just clutched his bag to his chest and joined the throng of students in the stairwell, following the flow all the way to the bottom, trying not to be impatient when he got stuck behind someone slow. The last thing he wanted was provoking someone into hitting him.

Thankfully, 'B' was indeed the basement floor, and as luck would have it, B005 was the first classroom directly across the stairwell. He walked into class with two minutes to spare, and found an empty, unobtrusive desk near the back left corner of the room. He finally took the time to put his papers up, get his notebook and a pencil back out, and then shoved his bag under his desk and out of the way.

He glanced around the room at the other students, wondering which of them would hate him and which of them would just ignore him. He spotted the pretty girl from the hallway a few rows over, near the middle of the room, and felt his stomach give a nervous fluttery feeling. He was developing a crush on her. Great, just what he needed.

He didn't even know her name. And even if he did, it wouldn't matter, because someone as pretty as her would never acknowledge a loser like him. She'd only smiled at him earlier because she hadn't known who he was.

But she would soon enough, her and that girl Rikku, and then both of them wouldn't ever pay him any attention again. And his life would suck just as much as it had at his old school.

Tidus sighed. He really hated his life.

end chapter two

Okay, so that chapter was 2K words. I'm trying not to make them too long, because I don't want to scare anyone away from reading, but if you guys would still like something a bit longer please tell me! (This place ate my smilie...)

Also, if there's anything particular you'd like to see happen in this story, just let me know and I'll consider it! I can't guarantee I'll do it, but I'll think about it. And once again, if you liked this chapter, please consider leaving a review! It's nice to know when someone enjoys something, and reviews make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :D Thanks for reading!

-asch


	3. Chapter 3

Wow, thanks for all the reviews guys! Sorry this chapter took a little while, I've just been unexpectedly busy with work and hardly could find time for writing. But it's here now! 

**More than a Dream**  
chapter three

Tidus was glad when at last the bell rang signaling the end of fourth period. History was his worst subject, and having two different history classes right in a row was really going to suck. He didn't mind hearing about Zanarkand history so much, but he didn't care one bit about the history of Spira. It was just a bunch of stupid wars and stupid leaders and false religions. Like he cared about Bevelle's side of the war with Zanarkand. 

He gathered up his bag and checked his schedule, seeing that his next class was science. Great, he hated science... At least it was only one floor down, so he didn't have too far to walk. And, actually... he double-checked again. Yep. It was the same room his homeroom was located at. Probably even the same teacher, although he couldn't be for sure since the science teacher wasn't listed for some reason. 

If it was the same, he hoped the teacher didn't realize... he didn't want to have to explain why he missed homeroom in front of all his classmates. It would be much easier to get to homeroom early tomorrow and explain when no one else was there. 

He walked into a nearly empty science classroom and quickly chose a seat near the back, as usual wondering who all would be in his class with him. He yearned for the familiarity of his old high school. "Stupid Auron..." he mumbled to himself, then reddened and quickly glanced around to make sure no one had heard him. 

The class filled up quickly, and Tidus' stomach gave another jolt when he saw that girl walk into the classroom. He'd learned her name during third period. Yuna. It was a pretty name, and it suited her well. He watched as she again took a seat near the middle, and suddenly wished that he'd walked in late so he could try for a seat closer to her. 

_It's hopeless anyway_, he thought. _She'd never even notice me._

The teacher was the last one to walk into the room, and Tidus was relieved when it _wasn't_ the same teacher as his homeroom. The listed name on his schedule for homeroom was definitely a female name, and this teacher was a man. It seemed like all science teachers were men, all the science teachers at his old high school had been male too. It was weird. 

"Alright class, listen up!" the teacher said immediately after the bell rang. This class is Biology and Lab in room 216, and I am your teacher, Mr. Curtiss. If you are not in the right class, please get up and leave now." He paused for a moment, waiting, but everyone merely sat there and stared at him. 

"Okay. We're all where we're supposed to be. Good. Now, before we get started, I shall call roll to see who's here and who isn't. At the end, if your name was not called and this class is listed on your schedule, please raise your hand and tell me your name so I can add you to the roster. Also, please raise your hand and say "here" when I call your name." 

There was another pause as he opened his attendance book, flipping to the fifth period section. "Tidus Aurion." 

"Here," Tidus said, raising his hand. The teacher looked around, spotted him, and then went on to the next name. Tidus then proceeded to tune him out until all attendance was taken, daydreaming that he was already home and out playing blitz, the worries of school far from his mind. 

"I will now pass out the syllabus and required material list. When they reach the end of each row, please bring me any extras that are left. I expect for you to read these on your own tonight, and if there are any questions we will address them tomorrow in class," Mr. Curtiss said as he passed out small stacks to each row of desks. 

Tidus sighed when the kid in front of him turned around to give him a helpless kind of look, indicating there were no more papers left. It was just his luck. He looked to the girl next to him, but she was already getting up to hand in her extra papers. He hesitated another moment, and then slowly raised his hand. 

"--I said, this is a biology and lab class, meaning large portion of your grade will come from the weekly lab sessions we have every two weeks. Yes?" 

Tidus winced as Mr. Curtiss looked over at him and frowned. The guy didn't seem to happy about being interrupted. "Ah, I, uh, I didn't get a syllabus and material list," he said awkwardly, cringing when half the class turned to look at him. 

Mr. Curtiss sighed. "Come up here and get one from the extras off my desk, then." 

Tidus stood and carefully made his way down the aisle to the front of the room, wishing the guy would continue on with what he was saying. He could feel the eyes of the whole class on him, and it was making him very uncomfortable. He grabbed a sheet of each, and then returned to his desk quickly, grateful he managed not to trip over any bags or feet. 

"As I was saying," Mr. Curtiss resumed, "there will be a lab every two weeks, usually on Tuesdays. I will give you the assignment information on Fridays, and remind you again of it on Mondays. All labs will be held in room 223 across the hall, so you will go there on lab days." 

_Well, at least it's close enough to this room_, Tidus thought as he absently watched the man go over to his desk and pick up a small plastic box. It wouldn't be that much further to walk. 

"As for lab partners, I will be assigning you one today, and that person will remain your lab partner for the rest of the year. There will be no swapping of lab partners. If you are having a problem with your assigned partner, then the two of you will come to me and I will see about assigning you a new partner at that time. You may _not_ request a change just so you can be partnered with your friend. This is a learning environment, not a social one." 

_Great_... Tidus slumped down in his seat. He was glad that at least the teacher wasn't letting them choose on their own, because he didn't want to stand there looking like a loser as everyone else paired off, but he hated working with anybody and they'd probably spend the whole time ignoring or tormenting him. 

"I will now go down the roll calling names. When your name is called, please come up here and pull a slip of paper out of the box I am holding. This paper will have the name of your partner on it. You will show it to me and I will call it out to the class. The person whose name is called, please raise your hand and say "here" so your partner will know who you are." He looked around the room. "Is everything clear, or do I need to go over it again?" 

"Clear!" most of the class responded. 

"Tidus Aurion," Mr. Curtiss called. Tidus reluctantly stood up and made his way to the front again. He reached into the box and pulled out a slip of paper, staring at it nervously for a brief moment before he opened it. 

He read the name blankly, the impact not registering at first. Then he read it again and realized, and almost fell over from the shock. He suddenly felt a sick knot of anxiety form in his stomach as he handed the paper over to the teacher. 

"Yuna Makani," Mr. Curtiss announced, and Tidus watched in a daze as she raised her hand and said, "Here!" smiling at him. He tried giving her a weak smile back, not missing the glares of her friends and jealous boys who'd all wanted to be her lab partner. 

He walked slowly back to his seat, hardly even noticing when he stumbled over a few bags along the way. Yuna was his lab partner. He had to work with her every two weeks for the next year... She'd actually notice him. Maybe she'd even get to know him and see how nice he really was, and they could become friends, and more if he was lucky... 

"Baralai Maoli," Mr. Curtiss announced, breaking Tidus out of his daydream. 

"Here." 

Tidus scowled at himself. He was being stupid. Yuna would only work with him because she had to, and she wouldn't give him any more attention than that. Someone as pretty as her most likely already had a boyfriend anyway. She'd never think about going out with him. 

The rest of the class moved slowly, taken up with the process of assigning lab partners. The class wasn't all that large, but Mr. Curtiss would have to put down the box after every name drawn so he could cross that name off the list, and then he'd call a new name and stubbornly pick the box right back up again. Out of boredom, Tidus started reading through the syllabus, scowling when he noticed there was a lot of reading and homework. Aside from the labs, it looked as if the class would mostly be busywork. How boring. 

After what felt like an eternity, the bell at last rang, signaling their freedom. Also their lunch break. Tidus was so hungry and bored by this point that he didn't even care about walking into a whole room full of hundreds of kids he didn't know. He just wanted some food. 

x x x 

"Tidus! Hey Tidus!" 

Tidus jerked, nearly dropping both his bag and his tray of food. He sighed, and didn't even have to look around to already know that the voice belonged to Rikku. He wondered what she wanted. 

"Tiiiiidus!" she called out again, and he winced. He turned towards her voice, and cringed even more when he easily spotted her, standing up in her seat and waving at him frantically. 

"Come sit with us!" she yelled, ignoring all the stares and weird looks of the people around her. He tried not to die of embarrassment, and briefly considered running away before he decided that it would do no good. 

"Err... hi," he said when reached her. He started to sit in the empty seat next to her, but she just giggled. "No, no, this is Yuna's seat!" she said, pointing him to a seat opposite her instead. 

He almost dropped his tray a second time. "Yu-Yuna?" he asked weakly, desperately hoping that perhaps she meant some _other_ Yuna. 

"Sure! Yuna Makani, she's my cousin. Remember, this morning I said she had some classes with you. You should know who she is by now!" 

"Y-yeah," he agreed. He should have gone with the running away option after all. "Uh, thanks... for letting me sit here," he said, trying to change the subject. He'd deal with Yuna when she was actually at the table. 

"Well, I figured since you're new here, you probably don't know anyone yet, and it sucks having to sit at a table with a bunch of losers. It was the least I could do!" She smiled at him. 

He half-laughed, feeling a little sick. "Losers, right," he said. Soon enough she'd think of him as a loser too, and then he'd spend the rest of his year sitting at the loser table. 

"Rikku. You brought a new stray to the table." 

"Yep!" She smiled at the two girls starting to sit down. "Lulu, Yuna, this is Tidus! He's new here." 

"Uh... hi," Tidus said, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously. He quickly glanced at Yuna, and then focused his attention on the other girl instead, Lulu. She was... a very strange girl at first glance. She was tall, with pale white skin and black hair that was two different lengths. The front half seemed to be roughly chin length, while the back half was done up in a bunch of small braids and went down her back. Tidus wasn't sure just how far down, since she was sitting. 

She was also wearing a black v-neck halter top, dark purple lipstick, and a lot of dark eye make-up that Tidus didn't really know much about. He figured that the rest of her clothes would be black too. She probably was one of those people that wore all black every day no matter what. She actually looked good in it though. Tidus wasn't one for auras of any kind, but she seemed to have a strange kind of beautiful and mysterious aura about her. He wondered how well received she was by the rest of the school. 

"Hello, Tidus," Yuna said. She gave him another one of those heart-stopping smiles. "You're my lab partner for science, right?" 

"Y-yeah!" Tidus said, blushing and glancing back at Yuna again. "Um, sorry it had to be me..." 

"What do you mean?" 

"Ah..." Tidus could have kicked himself for saying something so stupid. Definitely they were going to think he was a loser. "I just meant, well... you know... sorry it wasn't one of your friends." 

"Tidus, shut up," Rikku said. "Yunie doesn't care about that kind of thing! Besides, she could use a new guy in her life, her current one is just a drag on her!" 

"Ah, Rikku!" Yuna wailed, blushing furiously. "Don't say things like that!" 

"Well, it's true, you know! I don't know why you haven't just dumped him already, you guys hardly even talk to each other. Other than class today, I bet you haven't seen him in weeks. Did you guys go out anywhere during the summer at all?" 

"Of course we did! Baralai's just... he's busy with work and college preparations, that's all." 

"Yeah, and who isn't these days? I'd still manage to find time for my girlfriend if I were him!" 

"I agree, Yuna. Baralai is just making excuses. I think you should dump him." 

_So Yuna does have a boyfriend_... Tidus thought, listening to them as he ate. But it seemed like they weren't getting along too well. He wondered who Baralai was. He remembered hearing the name during science, but he hadn't paid attention to the guy. 

"Let's not talk about this right now," Yuna said hastily. She turned towards Tidus, firmly ignoring her friends. "So Tidus, you're new here? Where are you from?" 

"Oh, uh... I'm from here," he said, not expecting the question. "I mean, I've lived in Zanarkand all my life. I just went to Zaon High before." He looked at her, wondering how interested she really was. She was probably just being nice and making small talk. He doubted she'd want him sitting at her table for long. 

"Really? Why'd you transfer here? Did you move?" 

"No, I just..." he stopped, unsure what to say. He couldn't say that everyone hated him and picked on him so much that Auron made him transfer halfway for his own safety. He quickly took a bite of his food to buy some time. "I just wanted a better school," he said at last, smiling at her. It was true, if not the reason he transferred. 

"Well you definitely picked the right place!" Rikku said cheerfully, grinning. "We're the best school in all of Spira!" 

Tidus laughed, a bit ruefully. "You're certainly better than my old school." ..._although not by much, yet._ So far the best thing going for Zanarkand High was Yuna. 

The four of them then spent the next ten minutes of lunch comparing their schedules, while the girls gave him the rundown on all his teachers and an idea of what he could expect most of his classes to be like. He discovered that he had one more class with Yuna, Math in room 130 next period. He also found that he had gym class with Lulu, though so far she didn't seem to have much interest in him. 

Tidus was just starting to feel comfortable in their presence when the bell rang, meaning that lunch was over. He sighed. He didn't want lunch to end. It had been a really long time since anyone his age had actually been nice to him and talked with him, and he'd forgotten how much fun it could be. 

Now he had to go to math, and even though Yuna would be in the class, he absolutely hated math. He hated most subjects, but he hated math the most. All the numbers and formulas and stupid shapes... it was so pointless. Tidus figured all he needed in life was basic math, and learning anything else was a waste of time. 

He grabbed his tray and went to go put it up, then came back for his food. Rikku and Lulu had left, but Yuna was still standing there at the table. He felt his stomach give yet another nervous flutter. Was she... waiting for him? 

"Yuna?" he asked uncertainly. "Is... is something wrong?" 

"Oh, Tidus. Ah," she blushed a bit. "I just thought maybe you'd like to walk to math class with me?" 

Tidus stared at her, hardly believing what he was hearing. She actually wanted to walk to class with him? Was she just taking pity on him? Would she ignore him once they got to the classroom? Surely she didn't have any real interest in him. Did she? 

"Tidus?" 

"Huh?" He started, and remembered where he was. "Oh! Uh, sorry." He felt like a fool. "Sure. That'd be okay, I guess." _Just okay?_ he thought angrily to himself. "I mean, that'd be great. I'd love you--uh! I mean, to walk! I'd love to walk with you..." 

Oh _man_, was he ever making a fool of himself. Surely now Yuna realized how much of an idiot he really was. But amazingly enough, all she did was smile at him. "Shall we go then?" 

"Uh... yeah," he said, suddenly feeling ridiculously happy. "Let's go." 

x x x 

The rest of the school day went by fast. Tidus sat next to Yuna in math and the two spent the class passing a note back and forth, mostly talking about how they liked their classes so far and how bored they were during math. Tidus didn't even mind when the teacher eventually caught them and gave them a day of detention next week. 

Gym class was... a bit strange, to say the least. The teacher had never shown up, so some guy named Wakka had taken over the class and organized a practice blitz run for anyone who felt like participating. Tidus hadn't even known the school had its own blitz sphere. 

He'd joined the game though, despite the annoyed looks from some of the other guys who had probably thought he sucked at it. Other than the time spent with Yuna, it was unarguably the best time in the entire day so far. He had dominated the field, beating them all--including Wakka. 

And after the game was over his classmates had kept coming up to him, introducing themselves and telling him how great a game he'd played. It was a strange feeling, and somewhat nice, but it also left a bit of a sour taste in his mouth. It reminded him too much of his old man. 

However, Wakka had invited him to join the blitz team, which he had accepted immediately. He'd never been allowed on the blitz team at Zaon, something he'd always resented. Even if he hated his old man, he couldn't help but love blitz, and being denied it had always hurt. 

Now he was waiting in the parking lot of the school for Auron to come pick him up, and he was planning out the best way to convince Auron to let him get his own license and start driving to school. He would have gotten it a year ago except that Auron was too cautious for his own good. 

But maybe since it was his last year, and a new school, and he just might _actually_ be making some friends, Auron would actually cave and let him get it. He could only hope. 

end chapter three

And that is the end of the first school day! Hopefully I can get things moving a bit faster now. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and please consider leaving a review if you did :) Chapter four as soon as I can! 

-asch 


	4. Chapter 4

Nothing seems to be going right since I started this story... my computer died not long after I posted chapter three, and it took me months to save up from work and buy a new one. And now that I have one, the end of the semester is getting near and the professors are going crazy assigning projects and papers. I'll try my best to update. I'm so sorry it's taken so long! Thanks for all the reviews so far.

**More than a Dream**  
chapter four

"So I joined the blitz team," Tidus said.

No response.

He let the silence sit for a bit, then tried again. "I made a friend today."

There was only more silence.

Tidus frowned. "I ditched school to get high and then spent the day turning tricks to support my drug habit."

Auron merely raised an eyebrow.

Tidus let out a frustrated sigh. "Okay, maybe not that last bit. But the first two things are true! Geeze Auron, you could at least be happy for me, since you were the one that made me do this stupid transfer in the first place."

"I'm happy for you," Auron said, deadpan.

Tidus glared at him. "What is with you?" he huffed. "I swear, I'll never understand how you were my old man's best friend..." _He probably did what he did just to get away from you_, he thought, but then immediately felt guilty. He _did_ like Auron, even if his guardian frustrated him to no end most of the time. And he _had_ been a good friend to his old man.

Sighing, he grabbed an apple off the table nearby and then picked up his broken backpack, preparing to head upstairs and start tackling his evil homework. His first day at his new school had in one night brought what would have been a week's worth in his old school. He wasn't looking forward to it.

x x x

The next few weeks passed... surprisingly pleasantly, all things considered. He still seemed to have a "loser" stigma attached to him that made a lot of kids torment him just for kicks, but word was quickly spreading around school about his "phenomenal blitz skills" and how "Captain Wakka personally invited him to the team" and so some of them were slowly easing up a bit.

He also seemed to have truly made a friend in Rikku, who still insisted on yelling at him from halfway across the lunchroom, and sought him out between classes whenever possible. He also ended up being assigned the locker next to hers, which gave her a great excuse to pester him constantly. Not that he minded too much.

To his great delight, Yuna was also friendly to him at lunch and in their shared classes, and she walked with him every day to math class. The only downside was that she wasn't making an effort outside of those times to see him, which made him constantly worry that she was only being nice to him because he was Rikku's adopted stray, as Lulu had taken to saying.

Still, these things took time, and he was determined to do whatever it took to be her friend. Maybe even more, if she ever dumped that boyfriend that Rikku was always ranting about. Baralai something, the guy was always glaring at him during science class, and he knew it would only get worse when they had their first lab in a few days.

"Mr. Aurion!"

Tidus jerked, startled out of his thoughts, and looked up to find the glaring stern face of Mr. Warren, his Zanarkand history teacher, frowning disapprovingly at him. "Yes?" he asked meekly, already knowing he was in trouble.

"The answer, Mr. Aurion. What is the answer to the question I just asked?"

_Dammit_, he thought. What was the question?! He racked his brains hard, trying to remember what he'd been lecturing on when he zoned out. The last thing he could remember hearing was something about Bevelle's secret weapon in the war. "Err... what was the question?" he asked at last, wincing when he heard some of his classmates snickering.

Mr. Warren's frown grew even more, if such a thing were possible. "Detention, then, for not paying attention in class. Report here at the end of the day tomorrow."

He sighed inwardly. "Yes sir..." Well, he supposed _some_ things had to be the same as his old school.

Mr. Warren went back to the front of the class, focusing his attention on someone else. Tidus looked around the room, already bored and tuning him out again. He caught Yuna giving him a sympathetic smile a few seats over, and felt his stomach give a little nervous stutter. She was so beautiful when she smiled, and it was really great when that smile was directed at him...

The bell rang then, finally, mercifully saving him from further torture. He shot up out of his seat like it was on fire, glad to finally have that class over. Man, he _hated_ history.

Yuna caught up with him just outside the door. They always walked the first part of the way together before parting to go to their separate classes. Him another torturous hour of history and her gym.

"Hey, so what question did he ask?" Tidus asked her, knowing she'd more than likely been paying attention.

"Actually, he asked if you were paying attention..." Yuna giggled at the look on Tidus' face.

"What! He tricked me! That jerk..." He fumed. Yuna dissolved into hopeless laughter. "Hey! Yuna! It's not funny!" he cried. Well, he had to admit... it was a little funny. After the fact at least. And he could certainly put up with it if it meant hearing Yuna laugh.

"I'm sorry Tidus," Yuna said, still smiling. "But the look on your face..."

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled good-naturedly, now smiling with her. They reached the stairwell where they'd part--he'd head upstairs and she outside. "Look, I'll see you in Science, okay?"

"Okay. Try not to fall asleep in your next class or you might get tricked again!" she teased.

He scoffed. "I never sleep in class."

She merely smiled and waved as she headed out. And half an hour later, another detention slip in hand, he found himself wondering if the world had made him fall asleep just to purposely spite him.

end chapter four

yeah, I know, it's incredibly short and not much happens. I just wanted to post so you guys knew what happened and that I was still alive. Hopefully the next chapter will be better, and also sooner in coming :) Please consider leaving a review if you liked, thank you!

-asch 


	5. Chapter 5

I had some free time at work the other day so I was able to write the start of this chapter. Hopefully it gets better now!

**More than a Dream**  
chapter five

Tidus woke feeling very nervous. Today was his science class' first actual lab. It was the first day he'd be with Yuna, completely alone.

Well okay. Maybe not _completely_ alone. There'd be a whole class of other students with them. But they'd be working together, alone, with no one else to interfere or help. And that was the important part, the part that really mattered.

He just hoped the other students didn't kill him afterwards. Especially that Baralai guy. Yuna's boyfriend was apparently the jealous type, and he was already jealous enough, if the intensity of his glares were anything to go by.

"Tidus." Auron appeared looming in his doorway, a silhouetted shadow against the bright hallway light. "You'll be late."

Tidus groaned, burying his head under the covers. Damn that light was bright! "I know, Auron. Just five more minutes, okay?"

"No. Get up. Now."

"Aaaauuuurrrooooonnnn," he whined, his voice muffled by the weight of his blankets. He lifted his still-covered head as a thought struck him. "You know... if I had a car of my own, I could still be sleeping right now..."

"No," Auron said flatly.

"Man, why _not_?" Tidus grumbled. "You're the reason I have to get up earlier now anyway!"

"You would rather have been miserable at Zaon High just for half an hour of sleep?"

"...Yes," Tidus said petulantly. Even though he knew that now he probably _wouldn't_. Simply because of Yuna. And Rikku, to an extent. A much lesser one.

"Is it about the money?" Tidus no longer cared if he was late. He sat up, throwing the covers off and looking seriously at Auron, who just stared back impassively. "Cause I can get something cheap," _even if my old man left me rich_, he finished silently.

Auron didn't say anything for a long time. "You're not responsible enough," he said at last.

Tidus gaped at him in disbelief for a moment before laughing bitterly. "Right. Not responsible enough." He swung his legs over the side of the bed, wincing at the chilled floor against his bare feet. "You know what? Forget it. I'll do it myself. I don't need his _or_ your money."

"...Very well," Auron said then, for once speaking right away. And with that, he turned and left the room without another word.

Tidus stared after him, wondering what exactly had just happened. Had Auron just allowed him to get a car on his own? "...Right," he finally muttered, and started to get ready for the school day.

x x x

"You're late, Mr. Aurion," Mrs. Engale said.

Tidus grimaced, feeling the eyes of his whole homeroom on him. Why did teachers always have to announce the obvious like that? Wasn't it enough that he _was_ late? Why couldn't they just ask for a reason and be done with it? He sighed inwardly. "Sorry," he mumbled. "Overslept."

"Is this going to become a habit, Mr. Aurion?" Mrs. Engale asked. "This makes the second time you've been late, and we are not even four weeks into the semester yet. I warn you now, I will not tolerate constant tardiness in my homeroom."

Tidus fought down rising anger, hearing the snickers of some of his classmates around him. He caught Rikku giving him a sympathetic glance and risked giving her a small smile in return. "Yes mam, I know," he said, carefully picking his way over backpacks to his seat. He really wished more of them would put the stupid things under their seats instead of beside them. "It won't happen again." He made sure to leave the "I promise" off the end of his sentence.

"See that it doesn't," she said, just as he managed to get his foot caught in a loose end strap and go sprawling. She sighed. "See me after homeroom."

Tidus slowly climbed to his feet, his face bright red with a mixture of embarrassment and pain as the whole class minus Rikku laughed uproariously at his misfortune. He nodded at Mrs. Engale to let her know he'd heard, trying not cry in the meantime. Why was he such a loser?

"Ew, gross!" one of the girls exclaimed then. "He's bleeding!"

Tidus automatically brought his hand up to his nose, only then feeling the warm blood dripping out of it. "Dammit," he mumbled to himself.

Rikku jumped up then, a wad of tissues in hand. She rushed over to Tidus, holding them up against his nose to stop the flow of blood.

"Thanks," he muttered, reaching up to take them himself. He tried to ignore the utter humiliation of having the whole class watching this.

Rikku glared at all the students around them, putting her hands on Tidus' shoulder to steer him out of the classroom. She shot them one extra nasty look as they went out the door.

Tidus didn't protest until they reached the boys bathroom. "Rikku, that's... you can't go in there!"

"Nonsense!" she said cheerfully, letting go of him to push open the door. Then she shoved him inside, following after.

"Rikku!" he cried, looking around in panic. Thankfully all the stalls and urinals were unoccupied. The room was empty. "Seriously, you can't be in here."

She laughed. "You really are new to this school, aren't you?"

Tidus frowned, watching as she grabbed a bunch of paper towels and headed over to one of the sinks. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She turned on the hot water faucet, letting the water run for a while, testing the temperature every so often until she was satisfied. "That's about as warm as it gets," she said, and started to wet the paper towels. She turned back towards Tidus. "It just means there's a lot you don't know about this school yet."

"Huh? Like what?"

She smirked. "Tidus, girls sneak off to the boys bathroom all the time, to make out with their boyfriends. And sometimes other things," she added mischievously, handing him the wet paper towels. "Here. Clean your nose and face."

"Don't the teachers... you know, stop them and stuff?" he asked, going over to the mirror. He caught sight of the blood on his shirt and groaned. "Aw, damn."

"Don't worry, I've got another shirt. And no, the trick is to know when to go so you don't get caught."

"Uh, Rikku..." he started, suddenly having visions of himself in some tight pink low-cut nightmare for the rest of the day.

"Relax, it's my boyfriend's shirt."

"Boyfriend?"

"Gippal. He doesn't go here."

"Oh," Tidus said, wondering why she'd never mentioned him before. And why was it everyone seemed to have a boyfriend but him?

...Well, not that he wanted a _boy_friend, exactly, he wasn't in to boys. But a girlfriend, someone to be in a relationship with, that was what he wanted. He felt like the only pathetic loser in all of Zanarkand High who didn't have someone. Even the strange and mysterious Lulu had someone--she was dating none other than the captain of the blitz team, Wakka. And wasn't _that_ a strange match, to be sure.

"Tidus?" Rikku asked, sounding a little uncertain.

"Huh?" He looked up, and realized she was holding out a shirt to him. A thankfully plain grey shirt. "Oh."

"He might be a little smaller than you," she said as he struggled out of his blood-stained one, "but it should fit you well enough."

"Thanks Rikku," he said gratefully, absently wondering where she'd got the shirt since her backpack was still in homeroom. Maybe she'd gone to get it while he'd zoned out, lost in his thoughts. "For all of this, I mean," he added.

She smiled. "You're welcome. Anyways, the bell's gonna ring in a minute, so I better get out of here. Mr. Malaney always checks this bathroom after homeroom."

"Okay. See ya later Rikku."

"Okay. Oh!" Rikku started digging frantically in her purse. "Here," she said, pressing a small white square of paper into his left hand. "You'll see Yuna before I will. Give her that, will you?"

"Sure," he said, and then she was gone.

x x x

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

"Uh..." Tidus looked around nervously, quickly realizing that he was trapped. Every side he glanced to, there was a boy blocking his way. It didn't take him long to remember who they were, either. It was the group of boys he'd bumped into on the first day of school, the ones who had kicked him around. It wasn't much to put two and two and come up with their status as school bullies.

The guy with blue hair seemed to be the leader of the little gang. Tidus gave him a nervous little smile, immediately realizing how stupid that was. He tried to remember what Rikku had told him about them, but only dimly recalled the warning to stay out of their way.

Unfortunately, in trying to duck Mr. Malaney and avoid getting caught, he had run right into their territory. Smack into the chest of the leader, to be more precise.

Tidus rubbed the back of his neck nervously, sheepishly. "Um... sorry?" he offered meekly.

The blue-haired guy gave him a slow, feral grin.

x x x

Yuna gasped, her hand flying to her mouth in shock. "Tidus! What happened to your face?"

Tidus sighed, self-consciously touching his left eye. "...Would you believe me if I told you I ran into a doorknob?"

Yuna frowned at him, reaching her hand out to grasp his face, inspecting the damage. "Doorknobs aren't in the habit of being eye-level and fist-shaped, Tidus."

He gave her a small grin, gently removing her hand from his face. He took a seat on the stool next to her. "Yeah, well... This one was."

"Was it also named Seymour?" she asked him with a knowing look.

He looked away. "Maybe."

"Oh, Tidus..." she said gently.

"Hey, it isn't my fault! I never did anything to him. He's just a jerk, that's all."

"I know, I know," she soothed. "I wasn't blaming you." She studied his face for a bit, still frowning at it. "It looks painful," she said.

He smiled wryly. "It is." He let out a little laugh. "I've had worse though. I'll live."

"Worse?"

"Ahh, uh..." He waved his hands around anxiously, sheepishly. "Nothing, nothing! Forget it!"

"Hmm..." She was quiet for a few moments, then spoke again. "You know, you never really said the reason why you transferred here."

"Ah, that's... well--" he was saved by having to answer further with the arrival of their teacher.

"Alright everyone, please stop talking and settle down," Mr. Curtiss said. "As you are all aware, this is our first lab for the year, so before we do anything else I will be going over the proper lab etiquette and rules. And in the meantime, please pass last night's homework to the left end of your tables."

Tidus immediately handed his homework to Yuna, along with the homework of the others at the table, and then zoned out as the teacher started listing off all the things not to do in the lab. Really, it was common sense he figured, there was no point in paying attention.

He wondered what kind of lab they were going to do. Probably something easy, since it was their first. Hopefully it was something that would require him to be lean in real close to Yuna, maybe he could even 'accidentally' brush against her or something... He got lost in a daydream then, just for a bit.

Yuna poked him. "Tidus," she said.

He jerked, startled. "Huh?"

She was holding out a piece of paper to him. "Lab assignment. Were you listening at all?"

"Uh..." he rubbed the back of his neck, and gave her a hesitant, crooked sort of grin. "No?"

She sighed. "Just read the paper, then. I'll go get our supplies."

"Sorry," he said, blushing. He watched her walk away for a minute, admiring her, and then looked down at the paper she'd handed him. It seemed to be a pretty straightforward lab and, as he'd guessed, easy.

**CREATING A CARBON DIOXIDE EXPLOSION**

the top of the paper said. Something so easy even a five year old could do it. Probably the teacher just wanted them to be familiar with the concept of chemical reaction, as if they hadn't had that drilled into their heads over the years already. Sadly it didn't really provide any opportunities to be close to Yuna.

He'd just finished reading the paper when Yuna came back to their seat, holding small paper cups filled with water and vinegar. "You have to go get the rest of the stuff," she said.

He made a face. He didn't want to have to get up. "Fine, fine," he said. He headed towards the front of the room, and measured out the required amount of baking soda, also grabbing a ziploc bag that had a square of toilet paper in it. Really, it was going to be a boring experiment.

Thirty minutes later, after Mr. Curtiss had finally went over everything with them and had let them get to it, his opinion of the day's lab was altered _ever so slightly_. He didn't even know how he'd managed it, but a mess of baking soda and vinegar was dripping down from his face, Yuna was staring at him in surprise, and the rest of the class was laughing hysterically.

He looked around at them, utterly humiliated, and with a growing horror realized he was perilously close to crying. No, he couldn't stand that, not in front of them, not in front of Yuna--

"Tidus--" Yuna started to say, and he looked at her and saw a bit of baking soda/vinegar on her nose. It was too much. He was so _stupid_, an utter fuckup. He stumbled to his feet, shoving his stool back, and bolted from the room, not even caring about his books or anything else.

He went and hid in the boy's bathroom, still trying not to cry. It was going to be just like last time, a complete repeat of Zaon High. He was always going to be the stupid one, the idiot that everyone made fun of and bullied and didn't care about.

He was the loser. The nobody. He'd always known that. And now Yuna finally knew it too.

end chapter five

Ah, geeze, I'm so slow at updating. I'm so sorry you guys! Please bear with me, I'm trying to write as fast as I can. It feels like the end of world for Tidus, huh? Please consider leaving a review if you liked, thank you :)

-asch


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